Music

As with other walks of life, ageism rather distorts how the world of music represents the experience of ageing and old age. There are lots of songs which ramble on about how terrible the ageing process is and how old age is something to be feared or is even rather disgusting. These type of songs are not included in this list!

However, although we have weeded out the most gross forms of ageism, it has really been quite difficult to find songs that truly celebrate the ageing process. This is a huge gap that hopefully some of the ageing rockers might begin to address.

We do have one or two celebratory songs here but the most positive that we tend to get are rather wistful songs with a philosophical take on the ageing process. And we have to remember that positive ageing isn’t about ageing all being wonderful – it isn’t. There is loss and tragedy and upset. What is important is how we respond to the challenges in later life in a positive way – which many of these songs capture.